Why does Birk use the exact same shotgun snap routine every freaking time?

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Re: Why does Birk use the exact same shotgun snap routine every freaking time?

And you can't really blame the players for doing that, the coaches have to find a way to overcome it and adjust that shit. Moellers an idiot.

Is Julian Castello still out there after Philly fired him? He may not be a good DC, but he was a good Oline coach, maybe Harbaugh could consider giving him a call. I assume they were together in Philly a few years back. Not really sure on what scheme he believes in, but anythings better than this drunken moron that we have right now.

Re: Why does Birk use the exact same shotgun snap routine every freaking time?

Might as well bring in Castillo since Moeller will probably end up the fall guy anyway to protect Cam when Harbaugh starts feeling pressure from the top to hold somebody accountable for the offense's inconsistency and, at times, incompetence.

Re: Why does Birk use the exact same shotgun snap routine every freaking time?

This is a problem and one reason why DL's are able to jump the snap like they do against the Ravens.

Maybe that's what I was seeing... But I did notice Yanda doing something.. I thought it was rocking back or a small foot flinch just before each snap. I guess I never thought about it being part of a pre-snap routine, I was more worried about him eventually getting called for a false start.

As far as a Hard Count goes... I do remember Flacco having a good one and using in past seasons and getting guys to jump more than a few times. It would seem to me that these guys are pros and should be able to flow seamlessly between a silent count/snap... hard count, etc from play to play based on wording in the play call.

Re: Why does Birk use the exact same shotgun snap routine every freaking time?

As I said, it's not a new issue. Here's a Q&A with Mike Preston in the Sun from September last year, after the loss to the crummy Titans team.

Nate: It appears that Marshal Yanda is making the line calls on offense, and then getting set right as the ball is snapped. The timing of it seemed to allow Tennessee to jump the snap basically every play. What was going on?

Mike Preston: Nate, I don't know if Yanda was making the line calls, but he was giving some type of signal to center Matt Birk. Like you, I noticed the Titans had picked up on the Ravens' cadence and it appeared as if they knew the snap count. Coach John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron have to review the cadence. A good quarterback will use a hard count to draw teams off sides. A major advantage for the offensive line, especially the weak-side tackle, is to get a good jump, but the Ravens lost that advantage several times against Tennessee.

Re: Why does Birk use the exact same shotgun snap routine every freaking time?

Originally Posted by arnie_uk

it doesn't happen at home.

Under the assumption that Birk can't hear the QB with crowd noise, and can't afford to duck his head to watch for hand signals, perhaps Yanda is signalling to both Flacco and Birk to start the snap count, which would then go off of beats, not sound. Just a guess. If Birk is calling out the defense and protections, I suppose he has to survey in front of him.

Re: Why does Birk use the exact same shotgun snap routine every freaking time?

Originally Posted by Shas

Under the assumption that Birk can't hear the QB with crowd noise, and can't afford to duck his head to watch for hand signals, perhaps Yanda is signalling to both Flacco and Birk to start the snap count, which would then go off of beats, not sound. Just a guess. If Birk is calling out the defense and protections, I suppose he has to survey in front of him.

Is it "going off of beats"--? Or is it more like moose calls it: Birk ducks head to look back at Flacco (or maybe to signal the rest of the OL) & then snaps the ball a fixed interval later? Sure as hell seems like the latter to me.

Look, I admit I don't know much about football, but...Let's suppose that Birk's head bob is (at least in part) to alert the unit that the ball is about to be snapped, and (at least in part) to see that Flacco is ready for the ball. Why couldn't they run the shotgun something like this:

Birk then looks back through legs at Flacco until Flacco lifts leg, at which point

Birk raises head, adjusts blocking if necessary, & snaps ball X beats after his head comes back up

--where X varies from play to play. You could also initiate a shift or man in motion at the leg-lift, knowing that the ball will be snapped so many beats later. You could change the silent count to start after the second leg lift. Etc...

In this scheme, Flacco controls when the silent count starts & signals that to backs & receivers & Birk, Birk with his head signals the start of the count to the OL, and the number of beats in the count is settled in the huddle & not shown to the opponents.

Again, I dunno much about football, but...couldn't something at least conceptually like this work? & wouldn't it be better than essentially giving away the snap count on every play??

Re: Why does Birk use the exact same shotgun snap routine every freaking time?

Originally Posted by lobachevsky

Is it "going off of beats"--? Or is it more like moose calls it: Birk ducks head to look back at Flacco (or maybe to signal the rest of the OL) & then snaps the ball a fixed interval later? Sure as hell seems like the latter to me.

Look, I admit I don't know much about football, but...Let's suppose that Birk's head bob is (at least in part) to alert the unit that the ball is about to be snapped, and (at least in part) to see that Flacco is ready for the ball. Why couldn't they run the shotgun something like this:

Birk then looks back through legs at Flacco until Flacco lifts leg, at which point

Birk raises head, adjusts blocking if necessary, & snaps ball X beats after his head comes back up

--where X varies from play to play. You could also initiate a shift or man in motion at the leg-lift, knowing that the ball will be snapped so many beats later. You could change the silent count to start after the second leg lift. Etc...

In this scheme, Flacco controls when the silent count starts & signals that to backs & receivers & Birk, Birk with his head signals the start of the count to the OL, and the number of beats in the count is settled in the huddle & not shown to the opponents.

Again, I dunno much about football, but...couldn't something at least conceptually like this work? & wouldn't it be better than essentially giving away the snap count on every play??

Re: Why does Birk use the exact same shotgun snap routine every freaking time?

This could very well be related to Michael Oher's false start issues. there was talks that they would inform himof when the ball was snapped and even some talkl that they were snapping on his movement, as opposed to letting him move off Birk's snaps...

Re: Why does Birk use the exact same shotgun snap routine every freaking time?

Originally Posted by arnie_uk

By beats you mean or the play clock?

I meant "one-thousand-one, one-thousand-two" etc.--each player counting the seconds out in his head. Going by the play clock would be better (because more synchronized) but what happens if a lineman is screened from the clock by the defenders? In any case you might want their eyes focused on the players they have to block rather than the play clock.

Re: Why does Birk use the exact same shotgun snap routine every freaking time?

I was assuming these guys aren't dumb and aren't going to have a system where they have to snap it immediately after Yanda pats Birk and yells, "go." I would assume, under this system we're imagining, that the snap could come one, two or three beats after this with Flacco barking the hut, hut, hut, but with everyone (Birk in particular) knowing when to start counting if they can't hear Joe barking out the count.

But it's one thing to have a system where you can count beats with the cadence and not have to go on "one" every time ... and it's another to actually utilize it and change the count.